Jewett-Cameron earnings up in first quarter

Lumber and metal products company Jewett-Cameron Trading reported earnings of $373,915, a 3.6 percent jump compared with last year’s first-quarter earnings of $287,883.

The North Plains, Ore.-based company reported sales of $14.3 million, down 7.7 percent from $15.5 million in the same period last year.

The company blamed the decline in sales on lower demand for industrial wood products. Products in the company’s lawn, garden and pet business segments helped offset the lower sales. Additionally, the company saw higher sales of specialty metal products, which have a more favorable overhead than wood products.

“We are pleased with our results in the quarter,” said Don Boone, CEO of Jewett-Cameron. “We are also encouraged with the continued rapid growth in demand for our specialty metal products, particularly for our gate support systems, which sell under the trade name Adjust-A-Gate.”

Jewett-Cameron Trading is a holding company that operates through subsidiary companies, including Jewett-Cameron Lumber Corp., Greenwood Products and MSI-Pro.

Wagner Lumber completes acquisition

Wagner Lumber, based in Owego, N.Y., has completed an acquisition of Afton, N.Y.-based Pomeroy Lumber, according to a report in the Binghamton (New York) Press & Sun-Bulletin.

The deal has been in the pipeline for some time but was stalled by a flood in 2006, according to the report. The acquisition will enable Wagner Lumber to expand operations and procure timber from all parts of the state.

Wagner Lumber, established in Owego in 1975, also operates Wagner Hardwoods in Cayuta, N.Y. The businesses employ about 200 people. Pomeroy operates a sawmill in Nineveh, N.Y., a location which will now be known as Wagner Nineveh.

Wagner has three additional locations, including Wagner’s Western Wood Yard in Friendship, N.Y.; Wagner Millwork in Oswego, N.Y.; and Wagner Hardwoods in Cayuta, N.Y.

KB Home rounds out rough fourth quarter, year

National home builder KB Home saw a net loss of $772.7 million in the fourth fiscal quarter, a deeper loss than the $49.6 million recorded in the same period last year.

Net revenue for the quarter was $2.07 billion, down 31 percent from $3.01 billion in the same period last year.

This decline reflected a 22 percent year-over-year decrease in new home deliveries to 8,132 in the fourth quarter from 10,386 in the 2006 fourth quarter, and a 12 percent year-over-year decrease in the average selling price to $247,800 in 2007 from $280,000 in 2006. During the quarter, the company took charges of $917.6 million for write-downs and tax expenses.

For the full year, the company saw a net loss of $929.4 million, swinging from net earnings of $482.4 million last year. Net revenue for the year was $6.4 billion, down 46.5 percent from $9.38 billion in 2006.

“The challenging market conditions we experienced through the first three quarters of 2007 continued during the fourth quarter,” said Jeffrey Mezger, president and CEO of KB Home.

Mezger listed several factors detrimental to KB Home’s business throughout 2007, including an oversupply of new and resale homes, increased foreclosure activity, heightened competition for home sales, reduced home affordability, turmoil in the mortgage and credit markets and decreased consumer confidence in purchasing homes.

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